55 gallon pond help!

Lizzie

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Does anyone else have a pond this small? Do they make skimmers small enough for my 55 gallon puddle? My pond is only 2 ft deep and I want something that will clean out the junk that falls in it. Right now I just have a small 170gph pump with a filter sitting at the bottom of the pond that pumps the water through a 1/2" hose to the top of the falls. I looked at the No Niche skimmers but they don't say exactly how they work, or how they are installed. Can anyone shed some light?
 
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Gosh, that is an tiny pond for a skimmer! A skimmer in a pond that size will take up most of the room in the pond.

No niche skimmers just sit in the pond and water and crud feeds through it. It's got a little basket that you empty of the leaves and such. You could but bird netting over the top of the pond to catch some stuff, just as an idea.

What exactly are the dimensions of the pond? Are you sure it's only 55g?
 

Lizzie

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According to my calculations it is, unless I'm doing something wrong. Its deepest point is only 19 inches and its 50 inches long by 42 inches wide and it has 2 plant shelves - one is 8 inches deep and the other is 12 inches deep. I took the average length times the average width times the average depth and multiplied that by 7.48 to get the gallons. Was that wrong? I used to have a peanut-shaped preformed liner that was only 30 gallons, but I took it out and made the hole a little bit bigger with shelves. (See picture below of peanut shaped pond.)

Does the No Niche skimmer just hook up to my pond pump then in order to get the suction?
 

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Lizzie said:
I took the average length times the average width times the average depth and multiplied that by 7.48 to get the gallons.
If "average" means to add the extremes and divide by two, this formula will be off most of the time. For a more accurate volume, divide the pond up into sections, calculate the volume for each, and add them together. To keep the math simple, the sections need to either have a flat bottom or have a (more or less) constant slope and have a constant width from the deep end to the shallow end. With such a small pond, though, you could also empty it and refill with a five gallon bucket.

What keeps the water in your pond? And what's your flow rate?
 

Lizzie

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I just added up the three different depths then divided by three to get the average depth. Then I did the same to find the average length and width. I'm pretty sure the volume is right because I filled up the old 30 gallon preformed liner then put the pump in it and pumped the water into the pond and it took all that water plus almost another 30 gallons.

I am using a regular pond liner now for my pond because I decided the preformed liner was too small and it didn't have plant shelves.

I don't know how to calculate my flow rate, but I know that I'm using a 170gph submersible fountain pump. I just finished my pond today. Here is the pic. I still need to add the underwater lighting and use the waterfall foam on the falls. I also still need a pond skimmer of some sort, but feel free to give me suggestions on what you think of my newly renovated pond.
 

Lizzie

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Here is my new pond!!
 

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Otter said:
If "average" means to add the extremes and divide by two, this formula will be off most of the time. For a more accurate volume, divide the pond up into sections, calculate the volume for each, and add them together. To keep the math simple, the sections need to either have a flat bottom or have a (more or less) constant slope and have a constant width from the deep end to the shallow end. With such a small pond, though, you could also empty it and refill with a five gallon bucket.

What keeps the water in your pond? And what's your flow rate?

I don't disagree at all, but how do you divide up a teensy 55g pond?!
 
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Well, you it's all about the ratios, eh? If Lizzie needed to add baking soda or a medication, being only 10 gallons off would throw her dose off by about 20%.
 
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quite, quite true. In such a small pond even a tiny difference would make a big difference. I'm thinking this water garden (which is really what it is) would be much better off as sumply housing plants/lillies. I think this environment is just too small for anything but a pair of comets.
 
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That's a good point, koikeeper. I think Lizzie's pond is a good candidate for minnows. They'd eat any mosquito larvae, the pond could house more of them comfortably, and they can be fascinating to watch.
 

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